Why are diet fizzy drinks bad for you?

Answer in the title really...

Does it affect weight loss?

Sugar substitutes are thought to have a weight gain effect in the longer term, but that's debatable. Mostly, I would stay away from all sodas and diet sodas because the sugar or sugar subsitute is never going to be good for you, and eliminating them along with processed sugary foods trains your body to no longer crave them eventually.

WTF are fizzy drinks??? You mean....soda?

The apartame makes you HUNGRIER. I heard about this from a medical professional and since joining here, I've been careful about my intake of them and guess what? It's true! I get really hungry after I drink one. Like, want to chow down hungry, too, not just a "I need a little something. . . " I guess it's good for the company that makes the stuff, b/c maybe you will drink more of the stuff to try to avoid overeating, but it's a viscious cycle!

Lots of chemicals and bad for your teeth, too. Drink water--Dasani does not use aspartame, and it is not in the Lipton "white tea to go" packets (although it does seem to be in the bottled stuff). I put one packet (made for 16 oz) in a quart or two of water just to add a little flavor and it works for me.

"fizzy" drinks I'm guessing you mean carbonated, can also cause the stomach to bloat. Not weigh-gaining related but it can make you look puffy!

we call them fizzy drinks over here in australia...its not realy that strange.

i could never give up my diet coke.but i dont know how it effects weight loss.obviously its bad for you but i cant stop!

There are a couple of things that are bad about diet sodas:

Any artificial sweetener is most likely bad for you. There have been some studies done recently that have shed light on exactly how and why. Unfortunately, these studies have not been widely advertised, and in my opinion there has been an incredible effort made to discount them!

I'm personally a part of the scientific community, and based on the studies I am familiar with, would strongly advise thinking twice about consuming artificial sweeteners. To me, it is simply not worth the possible risks, and I do not feel good when I consume them. Instead, I'd rather have a little bit of sugar. Otherwise, Stevia extract (can be found in convenient little packets like any other sweetener), is a wonderful alternative. It is an all natural, no calorie plant derivative that can be used to sweeten just about anything.

Aspartame and Splenda, in particular, have gotten quite a bad reputation. Some studies suggest that aspartame is broken down by the body into some pretty nasty stuff that is deposited in our tissues. Splenda, on the other hand, may possibly accumulate in the brain.

A couple of links (some of them are weighted towards a more scientific audience, but you should be able to take something away from them even if you are not scientifically inclined):

http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-side-eff ects.html

http://www.holisticmed.com/splenda/bowen.html

http://www.stevia.net/

If you choose to take the other controversial standpoint on artificial sweeteners, there is still a reason to shy away from them in my opinion. If you constantly have artificial sweeteners as a staple in your daily routine, chances are you are going to get used to having sweet things. Thus, you'll probably crave sweet things, which is likely to lead to unwise food choices. However, that is simply my opinion based on personal experience (I used to be a big Splenda consumer, and have felt MUCH better since I have cut it out of my diet), and all are welcome to take it or leave it =).

One last thing: I'm a big "read the ingredients" person when I go grocery shopping, and it absolutely amazes me some of the crap they put in food that is advertised as "healthy" even, artificial sweeteners included. High fructose corn syrup is another big one.

'twas a long rant (my first post on the site too) but I hope it was insightful and/or entertaining depending on your point of view and your stance in the artificial sweetener controversy ;).

Original Post by princess_laura:

we call them fizzy drinks over here in australia...its not realy that strange.

 

 We call them fizzy drinks here in the UK aswell and soda drinks are what you mix with drinks like tonics. I get mixed up sometimes aswell.

yeah! fizzy drinks are totally what they are called, well, in new zealand atleast! soda is a type of fizzy here rather than the overall name

i dont think the occasional diet fizzy is that bad really, i drink them all the time, coke zero mainly - im addicted!

I can drink iced tea unsweetened, but I love my Diet Coke. I also put splenda in my coffee, can't drink that unsweetened. Other than that, I don't eat a lot of sweets. I think we can do a study on anything artificial and find that it's not good for you. I clean houses for a living, so I also drink a lot of water through out the day too

If you want to use a sweetener, Stevia is a natural sweetner that is actually a supplement.  Xilotal (sp?) is also not as bad as other sugars.

so, r u saying "Splenda" isn't as bad for you? what sweetner is Stevia? is that at the grocery store or do you have to go to a all natural foods store?

Original Post by angelbrenda:

so, r u saying "Splenda" isn't as bad for you? what sweetner is Stevia? is that at the grocery store or do you have to go to a all natural foods store?

You can get stevia at Walmart by the name of SweetLeaf, it is a great alternative to artificial sweeteners =).

SweetLeaf has achieved GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) status with the FDA, and has been proven safe through rigorous testing and many studies.

Original Post by princess_laura:

 

i could never give up my diet coke.but i dont know how it effects weight loss.obviously its bad for you but i cant stop!

Sure you can.  I've done it, but I'm not going to say it's easy.  Even diet pop tastes better than water.  I'd say it's the taste rather than the caffeine that was the hard part about quitting.  Of course, I'd definitely recommend against going cold turkey.  If you're serious about it, just reduce the amount you drink every few days until you're no longer drinking any.

im addicted to coke zero!! i know the feeling.

Original Post by angelbrenda:

so, r u saying "Splenda" isn't as bad for you? what sweetner is Stevia? is that at the grocery store or do you have to go to a all natural foods store?

stevia is disgusting. I suppose if you're not used to the great taste of sweetness, and have total amnesia on what sweet is suppose to be, stevia is great.

here's the thing (in my unprofessional opinion), everything can kill you. are you buying only all organic everything? no? then you'll be dead soon. same goes for splenda.

I won't give up splenda. i'm healthier (and lighter) than if I was using sugar.

my mom has been using aspartame since i was a baby, probably before, and she's still healthy. I used to read the back of the sweet & low package and say "mom, this causes cancer in rats" and she would sweetly tell me " honey, i'm not a rat". although I still don't think her argument stands, her health does.

They are horrible for your teeth. The citric acid wears away at your tooth enamel and can cause really bad cavities. I used to drink around 2 or 3 20 ounces of diet soda a day-sometimes more-until I went to the dentist and found out I had to get a root canal (she told me the diet soda may have been part of the reason, they are not completely sure though). Haha and I am 16 years old as well...you don't see a lot teenagers getting root canals. :/

Unsweetened seltzer water!

It gets me past the craving for something cold and fizzy, but without the sugar or artificial stuff, add a little fruit juice to make it even better.

The health risk (or at least the one that has the most scientific evidence behind it) of diet colas is that they contain phosphoric acid, which reduces bone density in women. This is also true of regular colas, in addition to their sugar content. Clear sodas don't seem to have this risk associated with them.

Wow, just as I was reading this...I realized something.

I've been getting headaches pretty much every day for the past 6+ months.  I have gone to my Dr and have tracked these headaches for the past 4 months because they started to bother me in the fact that I get them just about every day.  There was 3 days in the past 4 months that I DIDN'T have a headache.  So, I am sitting here at work and light bulb clicked that I switched to Splenda possibly the same time these frequent headaches started.

I am not saying this IS the case and Splenda is evil but I can't believe it took me this long to discover a common link between when my headaches started and using Splenda.  Now, if I am lucky, this will be the solution.  If not, well, back to the drawing board. 

I do like the flavor of Splenda very much, but if it IS what is causing my headaches, I will have to try that Stevia stuff. 

Wow, I really do hope that is the culprit. I know many people react in different ways to different substances...I just hope this is what was causing them. 

 

While I am sure everyone is a snowflake(unique and different), I lost 130+ on about 1800 calories and 2-4 liters of diet soda per day. Take it as you will.

Ingredients off a can of Diet Coke: Carbonated water -Caramel color -Aspartame -Phosphoric Acid  -Citric Acid -Potassium Benzoate -Natural flavors -Caffeine

Carbonated water - slightly acidic mixture of fizzy water

Aspartame - linked to brain damage in some people, also linked to sugar-like effects on appetitie.  It metabolizes into methanol, formaldehyde, and formate.  Methanol is poison.  Formaldehyde is embalming fluid.  Formate is the part of an ant or wasp sting that hurts. 

Phosphoric Acid - this is the part of coke that the highway department uses to clean carnage off the highway with.  It's also the part that will cook/dissolve a piece of meat left over night in a can of coke.  Linked to tooth damage in some people. 

Citric Acid - More acid

Potassium Benzoate - In combination with Vitamin C, it can form Benzene, a known carcinogen.  It's also described as "mildly irritant to the skin, eyes and mucous membranes".  When you drink it, it's in contact with the "mucous membranes" in your digestive tract.